President Donald Trump said he will pull federal funding from institutions of higher education that allow “illegal protests” in a post on his Truth Social account Tuesday.
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” said Trump in the post. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The post did not clarify the meaning of “illegal protests.”
Several protests have been held on USC’s campus in the last year, including a protest as recent as February 27, when the USC Divest from Death Coalition protested in support of undocumented students. In May 2024, there were also several protests and encampments resulting in a police presence on campus.
Niels Frenzen, USC’s immigration clinic co-director, has practiced immigration law for 40 years. He said Trump has no unilateral authority under the law to deport people.
“The President doesn’t have any authority under the law to expel students,” Frenzen said. “The President doesn’t doesn’t have any authority under the law to withhold money from universities because there are protests at the universities … It’s not something that the President can accomplish through an executive order.”
Robert Shrum, director of the Center for the Political Future, also questioned Trump’s statement.
“What’s illegal speech?” Shrum said. “Colleges are clearly free to set time, place and manner restrictions, but they’re not free to censor speech in terms of its content unless it’s a direct incitement to violence.”
Shrum said Trump’s statement could have a “chilling effect” on student protesters.
“No one wants to be the test case going into court,” he said. “Universities do need to enforce reasonable restrictions on where and when students demonstrate. But that’s very different from trying to claim that illegal speech is somehow or other the advocacy of a point of view with which you disagree.”
The statement comes after multiple federal agencies have announced that they will be reviewing the continuation of contracts and grants with Columbia University due to allegations of antisemitism on campus.
In a statement from the advocacy group USC SCALE to Annenberg Media regarding the USC’s and Trump’s administration reactions to their protests, they stated they firmly condemned Trump’s “fascistic statement” in reference to students fighting for the “liberation of Palestine.”
“We want to emphasize that compliance with fascism is participation in it,” the statement read. “USC will not protect us, our institutions will not protect us, silence and fear will not keep us safe. Only community and solidarity in service of the global movement for justice and liberation of all oppressed peoples will ensure a better collective future for us all.”
Some students have expressed concerns over what this means for their own freedom of speech and ability to protest on campus.
Adam Ali, a sophomore business administration major, said he believes in the importance of protests and sees this proposed regulation as a problem.
“Protests are an important part of our country. It’s something that we need,” he said. “You could say no illegal protest, but it’s very hard to say what that really is. It could lead to some very negative outcomes.”
Brandon Ramirez, a Cal State Fullerton graduate, said he felt this statement was confusing, and does not provide a definite answer as to what an illegal protest is.
“I believe you should specify what illegal means in protest because [of] our First Amendment right,” he said. “[If] it becomes a riot, that’s different. But if we can protest, then what’s stopping something being illegal?”
One student, Makenna Harding-Davis, a sophomore music composition major, said she feels as though Trump wants to limit the voice of the public.
“I feel like it’s an attempt to limit our ability to think freely at this age. This is when we’re coming into our own,” she said. “Limiting protests and our ability to do that is cutting off this part of our development.”
Ramirez was also critical, stating it is a right to be able to protest and the words of Trump may not be fair.
“Well, that’s freedom of speech. That’s America. It’s who you are,” Ramirez said. “You come to this country to have that freedom. Yes, it makes sense if it’s becoming a problem with destruction, or starts riots, or it incites violence, but that’s America.”
During the Reagan administration, Frenzen worked as a law student in a refugee center for Haitians fleeing brutal dictatorship. Many Haitian immigrants were locked up and subject to mass deportation by the Reagan administration.
“I thought it was a dark time, but it is nothing compared to what we’re dealing with today,” Frenzen said. “It is overwhelming. It is generating a lot of anxiety and stress among my colleagues in the immigration clinic, our staff attorneys and me. But most significantly, it is obviously impacting our clients and our clients’ families.”